What Could've Been?
by The Sleeping Man
Summary: The Doctor and Martha find themselves stranded in a sterile wasteland. They must work with allies from the Doctor's past and future in order to battle a horror left behind from an ancient war. Will they escape in time or will they remain trapped forever?
1. Laying the Pieces on the Board

The scars of war were sketched into the country side and the ruins of a civilization long dead. The ruined metropolis stood as a reminder of a past golden age. Towers of rusted steel and glass reached toward the sky on flimsy bases that would soon give way. The salted plain, on which these towers stood, was covered with dust and ash as if from a volcano had erupted. Nothing could be seen for miles around in all directions. There were no trees, grass, birds or even insects, only the ruins on a sterile plain. Suddenly, there was disturbance in the center of the once great metropolis. Centuries of dust and ash were kicked by an unknown force that seemed to give new life to an otherwise dead zone. An unearthly sound filled the once stagnant air. In the center of it all materialized a peculiar blue police box that stood out like a beacon in a sea of black and grey. The police box settled and all was quiet once again. The door of the police box opened and The Doctor emerged in sun glasses and bright red swimming trunks.

"Welcome to beautiful sunny… Honolulu?" The Doctor took in his surroundings puzzled. "Now this just isn't right," Behind him emerged a visibly excited Martha Jones, who dressed in a white bikini, was prepared to enjoy the beach.

"Out of the way, Doctor," Martha pushed the Doctor gently to the side, "I can't wait to feel that warm summer sun," She breathed in the air deeply and then started coughing. She struggled back into the Tardis and took a deep breath of air as the Doctor followed closely behind. "I thought you said we were going to Honolulu!" She exclaimed wiping the tears from her face.

"I thought so too but it seems the Tardis had different plans in mind," He walked over to the console and checked the monitor.

"So just where…or when exactly are we?" Martha asked concerned.

"I honestly don't know," The Doctor stared at the blank screen. He then pulled a lever but the screen remained blank. "The Tardis doesn't seem to be responding"

"Well, while you figure that out, I am going to go change," Martha stated, "No use being dressed for the beach if there is no beach," She walked around the corner toward her room. "Doctor, How…?" She popped her back around the corner to the find the Doctor already changed into a pinstriped blue suit with a red tie and trench coat.

"Yes, Martha?" He had out his stethoscope and had it pressed against the monitor. He was focused intently on finding the problem with Tardis.

"How…How did you do that?" She asked confused

"How did I do what?" He shifted his attention back to her.

"Uh never mind," She turned around walked straight to her room.

A few minutes later, she returned to find the Doctor standing by the door to the Tardis.

"Well, ready for some exploring," The Doctor stated gleefully.

"Exploring?" Martha sounding utterly baffled. "I thought you were fixing the Tardis?"

"Well, the Tardis seems to be fine however for some reason she isn't responding and I am guessing that we will the reason somewhere out in the wastes," He held the door open for her. "And I hoping to have some fun exploring the unknown," Martha was frustrated at first but then remembered this was the reason, why she came with the crazy man in the blue box, for excitement and adventure. She walked outside holding her breath as the Doctor closed the door behind her. "Just remember to stay…close" He turned around to face her but she had vanished. "Martha!" He called out to her, yet he heard no response. He called out to her again but there was still no response. However something had caught his attention, the sun had moved since he first arrived in the wasteland. It originally seemed to be setting but now it looked as though it was midday. "Curious?" He turned to his right was stunned to also see the ruins were far closer than he remembered. "Very curious, indeed?" He walked into the ruins while still calling out to Martha. Soon he ventured so deep into the ruins; he could no longer see the Tardis. The streets twisted and curved in different directions more akin to a maze than a city. The cracks and sinkholes made walking perilous but the Doctor was able to navigate his way through the streets with relatively little difficulty until he came to particularly bad stretch of road. The pavement gave way underneath his feet and he soon found his falling. However, someone grabbed his arm and he was pulled back to solid ground. "Thanks," The Doctor said gratefully but he then found himself in shock as he looked into the face of his savior.

"That was a close one but you could thank me by telling me where we are?" Rose Tyler smiled.

"Rose?" The Doctor asked with sure delight in his eyes but Rose looked at him concerned.

"Do I know you?" The Doctor was instantly heart broken. He examined her face and was sure she was definitely Rose. He wondered if there was something wrong with her memory.

"Don't you recognize me, I'm the…"

"Doctor," She exclaimed and ran past him. "Did you get the Tardis working again?" The Doctor turned to see to a man with short cropped hair with navy blue jumper, black pants and a leather coat. It was the Doctor only it was his ninth incarnation.

Meanwhile, Martha was struggling to regain her bearings. She had awoken to find herself in the middle of the deserted city with the Doctor nowhere in sight. There was a sharp pain in head and she could not remember how she and the Doctor were separated.

"Doctor!" She called out at the top of her lungs but there was no response. She called out again but was met only with silence. She knew that the best course of action was to stay put and wait for the Doctor but she could not help exploring the area around her. She searched for signs of the Doctor or any sign of life at all without any success. She was completely and utterly alone.

"Hey!" A voice echoed off the ancient buildings before hitting her ears. Martha shielded the sun from her eyes and in distance; she could barely make out a person waving their arm wildly in distance.

"Is that the Doctor?" She thought as she ran toward the figure, "At least I hope it is the Doctor." As she approached, she was frustrated to find that it wasn't the Doctor but instead a red-haired woman in what looked a pirate costume complete with sabre. Martha was surprised by how fast she made it to the woman and by the fact that she did not break a sweat. From where she stood before, she felt she was at least a mile away.

"Excuse me," The woman smiled and asked politely. "You wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you?"

"Unfortunately, I am trying to answer that same question." Martha was disappointed; she had hoped that this woman would know where she was. From the looks of it, the red-haired woman was disappointed as well.

"She doesn't where this place is either, Rory," The woman looked past Martha to a man hiding behind large rubble behind Martha. The man was also dressed like a pirate but his sword was drawn and he looked ready to pounce.

"Why did you tell her, I was here?" The man protested, "The plan was for me to catch her by surprise," Martha was startled and immediately raised her hands to surrender.

"Please don't hurt me, I did not mean you any harm," Martha gulped as the red haired woman looked her over.

"Hurt you?" The red haired woman laughed, "Rory was hiding to ambush you if you were a threat to us. Trust me, Rory is harmless," The woman smiled and outstretched her hand, "My name is Amy, Amy Pond and this is my fiancé, Rory Williams," Martha breathed a sigh of relief as she shook her hand.

"My name is Martha Jones,"

"Well, Martha, if you don't mind me asking 'How did you get here'"

"Well, you would not believe me if I told but my…friend and I just ended up here by accident," Martha chose her words carefully although they did not seem dangerous, she still did not trust them. "How did you two end up here?"

"Oh some crazy old guy just brought us here on a whim," Rory stated bluntly. Amy punched his shoulder.

"It is not like that at all, Rory," Amy glared at him. "We ended up here by accident as well but our friend is fixing the problem as we speak maybe he can help you too,"

"Your friend?" Martha asked curiously. Something seemed a little strange yet vaguely familiar. A door from one of the old buildings fell off its hinges. Behind it, holding the disconnected doorknob stood a young man in a pirate captain's outfit complete with an eye patch and a large captain's hat.

"I can fix that," The young man laughed then knelt down to pick up the door. He froze midway and turned white as a sheet. He lifted his eye patch and rubbed both his eyes then stared at Martha.

"Martha, this is our friend …" Amy started but was interrupted by the young man who walked up to Martha and inspected her closely. He then embraced her, which made Martha rather uncomfortable as well as Amy and Rory feel awkward.

"Uh…Do I know you?" She asked confused.

"Martha Jones, Don't you recognize me," He said then thought about it and quickly let her go. "Of course, you don't recognize me; I changed a lot since we last met," The man took off his hat and did a courteous bow. "I am the Doctor well a newer edition then the one you are use to,"


	2. Opening Move

**I actually did not know whether bring the groups together quickly or let the story play out for a few chapters but I then decided to try the middle ground. The ninth doctor may look a little bad in this chapter. However I do like the 9****th**** Doctor, it is just I imagined that there would be a little conflict between the Doctors. I imagine the 9****th**** Doctor being similar to the 1****st**** Doctor who was critical of his later incarnations (at least from what I read). I hope I caught all the errors. Enjoy**

"Umm…Doctor?" Martha started; She still was not use to this new Doctor.

"Martha, I know what you are going to say to and there was nothing, you could have done to prevent my regeneration," Doctor said in a reassuring tone, "The future has been set so please do to try change the future…"

"Actually, Doctor, I wanted to know why you are wearing that ridiculous bowtie," Martha smiled. After the Doctor and the others had changed their clothes, Martha could not help but stare at it. "Did you lose your fashion sense when you regenerated?"

"You do not understand, bowties are cool in the future," The Doctor said defending his favorite red bowtie from personal attack.

"That is a lie," Amy stated inserting herself into the conversation, "Bowties are never cool,"

"You know that is not the most ridiculous thing, he ever wore, once he…" As the girls proceeded to trade stories mocking the Doctor's sense of fashion, while Rory consoled the Doctor, who was slightly hurt by these vicious and utterly false remarks. Although Martha seemed cheerful, she hid her sorrow behind a smile. She knew that one day, the Doctor… her Doctor would be no more and there was nothing she could do.

"Ok, if you two are done chatting," Rory decided to finally join the conversation. "I would like to find a way to escape from this extremely creepy place before something big with sharp teeth tries to take a bite out of me,"

"Right, we should search for the tallest building in the city," The Doctor scanned the area around and then spotted what he was looking for. He pointed toward a leaning spire of steel which appeared to be on its last legs. "There, from what I can tell that is the tallest building and from my experience, I believe we will find what is disabling the Tardis at that location." Although the Doctor did not want to alarm his companions, he also felt strangely drawn toward the spire as if it was calling for him. This thought severely disturbed him because he did not like walking into traps.

"Are you sure?" Amy asked cautiously.

"Of course, I am sure," The Doctor smiled, "I'm the Doctor,"

"But what about my Doctor," Martha stated nervously. "I mean the other Doctor," She was worried, the Doctor was alone in this horrible place surrounded by who knows what.

"Well, if I know me and I do, I would probably head toward an area where I could get a clear view of the city," The Doctor then pointed toward the building, he singled out earlier, "Before you start worrying, I do know how to take care of myself besides we have bigger problems,"

"What would that be, Doctor?" Rory asked

"It seems that every time, I turn my head that building gets further and further away," As impossible as it seemed, the building did move furthered away or possibly they were the ones that were moving. "Whatever it is happening in this city, I have a feeling the answers will be there,"

Meanwhile, the other Doctor was trying get in touch with himself.

"So there are two Doctors?" Rose asked confused. "How is that even possible?"

"It has happened once or twice to me before but this is obviously an imposter," The Doctor (IX) stated. He did not believe that this man could possibly be a future version of him.

"Look see sonic screwdriver," The Doctor (X) took it out of his pocket and wiggled it in front of his former self. He could not remember ever being this stubborn …or this bald. "Who else in the universe, would have a sonic screwdriver,"

"I don't know… the daleks could copy the tech…," The Doctor (IX) started only to be interrupted by Doctor (X).

"You did not seriously suggest that I maybe a dalek or even affiliated with the daleks!" The Doctors were at each other's throats until Rose stepped in.

"Doctor...uh…Doctors, let's stay focused shall we?" Rose suggested while trying to diffuse the situation, "We still need to figure out how to get out of here,"

"Right, first we need to find Martha," Doctor (X) said turning away from his rather annoying former self.

"Who exactly is this Martha?" Doctor (IX) asked suspiciously.

"She is my current companion," Doctor (X) said as he looked at Rose. He was worried that she would ask questions that he could not possibly tell her. Before Doctor (IX) could argue, Rose stopped him.

"Doctor… this Doctor not you Doctor," Rose said struggling to make sense of the situation. She then pointed to Doctor (IX). "I think we should help him, what could it hurt?" Doctor (IX) pulled Rose to the side to talk to her far enough from the other "Doctor" so they could talk in private.

"Rose, I promised your mother that I would keep you safe and…" Doctor (IX) protested.

"I know, I know but if we could use the help if we are ever going to make it out of this place," Doctor (IX) knew that they had a better chance of surviving in a group than separated but he still did not trust the man who claimed to be him.

"Fine, Rose but we need to keep our guard up,"

"Doctor, I have not trusted anything since we first arrived," Rose responded. Doctor (IX) smiled approvingly. He then walked over to Doctor(X).

"Okay … "Doctor", we will help you find this Martha. However…" He then grabbed Doctor (X)'s shirt. "If I get the slightest hint that you will harm Rose in anyway, I will make you seriously regret,"

"I would never harm Rose," Doctor (X) replied and after several tense moments, Rose chose to interject.

"Since that is settled, let's all work together to find Martha and all get out of here,"

"I suggest that we head toward that building," Doctor (IX) stated then pointed toward the tallest building, he could see. "From there, we should get a good view of the entire city and as a visible landmark; Martha is likely to head toward it,"

"You read my mind," Doctor (X) remarked under his breath.

As they ventured into the ruins, both Doctors struggled to keep their minds on the task at hand and not on the potential enemy in their midst.

The Doctor (X) has lived for a long time but spending time with himself made what felt like an hour walk stretch into an eternity. He wanted to ask the other Doctor if he had noticed the peculiar lapses in time as well but he found that it was better even talking with Doctor (IX) was inviting an argument. "Is it due to the fact that this Doctor is closer to the events of the Great Time War," Doctor (X) wondered. The Doctor (X) came to a sudden realization. From his all memories as the ninth Doctor, he never had this memory. Something in these ruins was messing with his memory as well as space and time. "What can be strong enough to not only alter space and time but also the memory of a time lord?" One conclusion came in mind but that was absolutely impossible but what else could it be. He looked at his ninth incarnation. "Would he even entertain such a thought?" He pondered.

"We have arrived," Doctor (IX) stated as he continued to search for signs of a possible trap.

"Finally, my feet are killing me," Rose said as dropped to the ground to massage her throbbing feet. The path to this point was long and winding. The streets were largely unreliable so they had to resort to entering the crumbling buildings in order to get from place to place. The entire city seemed to be built as giant trap even the doors were unreliable. One such door led to a door on the opposite side of the same street. It took the Doctor (IX) scouting a path through this door for them to realize that they had been wandering in an embarrassingly small circle. Still they had often found that they were wandering in circles most of the trip. The base of each building usually appeared to be the same even the walls were oddly identical. They used landmarks made from rumble to mark their path. It was purely by chance that they even made it to this point. The Doctor (X) worried about Martha. He knew she was smart but could she make it on her own.

"This city was built to trap us, don't you agree Doctor," The Doctor (X) finally said after a long silence.

"I have to agree with you," Doctor (IX) grudgingly concurred. "I have been in mazes that were easier to navigate than these ruins,"

"So have I," Doctor (X) smiled but the Doctor (IX) still remained solemn.

"I am glad to see you two finally getting along," Rose said as she continued to rub her now swollen feet.

"Doctor!" A familiar voice exclaimed. Both Doctors looked to see a group of four, including Martha, emerge from a building. She ran up and hugged the Doctor (X). "You would not believe how difficult, it was to get here,"

"I think I have an idea," The Doctor (X) said as he looked at the rest of the group that came with Martha. "Who are they?"

"Oh that is Rory, Amy, and…you won't believe this but you," Martha said nervous and excited at the same time. "I found another Doctor," Doctor (X) was utterly shocked. Two other Doctors had been brought to this, could there have been even more. The Doctor (IX) walked up to the group and inspected them.

"Weak chin, absent-minded expression, and I could not get any worse," The Doctor (IX) shook his head as he inspected Rory.

"That is not the Doctor, that is my husband," Amy defended her husband. "And I love his weak chin, it gives him character," Rory accepted the backhanded compliment although he would talk to Amy later about improving those compliments.

"Actually I am the Doctor," The Doctor (XI) intervened on Rory's behalf, "Rory is a lot smarter and braver than he looks," Another backhanded compliment, now Rory was just wondering what the others thought about him.

"I regenerated into a girl?" The Doctor (IX) stated as he critically examined the Doctor (XI).

"I am sorry that we all can't be bald," Doctor (XI) argued back.

"I am not bald, I just shave my head," Doctor (IX) ran his fingers over his shaved head. "First, I find that this clown has the possibility of being me and now I find my future is full of weaklings," An argument then ensued among the two Doctors.

"Doctors, please I think we have bigger problems than arguing with each other," Doctor (X) interrupted the argument potentially stopping it from escalating. While this was going on, Rose had taken the time to introduce herself to Martha, Rory, and Amy. The Doctor (X) believed that if his companions could get along especially without knowing the fate of their predecessors than he believed that he should be able to get along with himself. "We need to work together in order to ensure everyone escapes here safely and alive," The Doctors glared at each other and grudgingly agreed.

"So Doctor…I mean Doctors," Amy asked cautiously. "Any ideas on how to get out of here," She hoped that with all the Doctors focused on solving this single problem instead of arguing amongst themselves, they would be able to finally figure out a way to escape.

"Obviously, we have entered some kind of pocket dimension independent of time, which could partially explain why the Tardis is disabled," The Doctor (IX) explained and the other Doctors nodded in agreement.

"I agree, the strange motion of the sun would support that argument but what concerns me more are the jumps in space," Doctor (XI) added his own thoughts. "The jumps in space and the distortions of this city seem to provide evidence of intelligence behind this incident."

"In English, please Doctors so the rest of us can understand," Rose exclaimed.

"Well Rose, in layman's terms, someone or something has consciously gathered us to this point for reasons currently unknown," Doctor (X) explained. A collective chill ran down everyone's spines. They were trapped here by an entity that was smart enough to capture three Doctors. "In order to escape, we have to find out whom?"

"Umm, Doctor, How exactly are we supposed do that? Rory asked, "All I have seen, since I have been here, is rumble and dust. It is not like a clue is just going to fall out of the sky," At that moment, an object fell out of sky and slammed onto the concrete below. A cloud of dust was sent up into the air temporarily blinding the group. "I take that back," Martha went over to investigated and was surprised by what she found.

"It's a woman!" Martha exclaimed horrified. The woman was critically injured but amazingly, she was alive. She appeared to quite old and she was dressed in rags. She spat up blood as she struggled to speak.

"I tried, I tried, I tried, I tried," She repeated to herself.

"She is in shock," Doctor (X) examined her. The woman struggled to get a look at him and then she smiled.

"Father, you came," She smiled one last before she fainted.

"Father?" Rose said surprised. A bright light slowly surrounded the woman.

"She is a…Time Lady," Doctor (IX) gasped in shock.

"… Jenny…" Doctor(XI) said under his breath.


	3. A Knight's Fear

_Who am I? _

_I have two faces. One that gazes backwards towards the past, I never had and the other forward toward a future that I will never know. _

_Who am I?_

_Doctor, do you know?_

"Doctor?" A voice pierced through the haze of the Doctor (X)'s mind. "Doctor?" The voice was much louder now. The Doctor(X) shook his head and saw everyone staring at him.

"Uh sorry, I zoned out," Doctor(X) apologized and started rubbing his eyes. "It is just the shock, that is all," The Doctor (X) could not believe that he was a father again. He did not know whether to be shocked, joyous, guilty, or a mixture of the three. As the Doctor (X) watched the elderly woman regenerate, he was reminded of all he had done in his life from his triumphant to his deepest regrets. He was no longer the last time lord there was another.

"Tell me about it," Doctor (IX) spoke up. He had been quiet for a long time and Doctor (XI) worried he would not take it well. Doctor (IX) was the closest of the Doctors to the events of the Great Time War so he probably felt the strongest about meeting another Time Lord.

"I cannot believe you actually have a daughter?" Amy asked the Doctor (XI). The others were just as confused, they had never known the Doctor to mention his family.

"Actually I am a grandfather," Doctor (XI) stated as he pointed to Doctor (X). "Jenny is a clone of this Doctor so she is closer to him and sees him as her father," Doctor (XI) was stunned by the fact that Jenny was even alive much less the fact that she somehow gained the ability to regenerate. The Doctor (XI) would keep these questions to himself.

"We have bigger problems than establishing paternity," Doctor (X) said with concern in his voice. "Jenny's regeneration is unusual tame and slow," Doctor knelt down and examined Jenny. He then grabbed Jenny's wrist. He expected it to be burning hot but it was only slightly elevated. "We have to get her to the Tardis… any Tardis immediately,"

"She does not look very healthy," Martha knelt down next to the Doctor(X). As a doctor, Martha tried to ignore the fact that Jenny was the Doctor's daughter with limited success. "But Doctor (X), how we supposed to find a Tardis in a maze like this?"

"Martha is right but we can't leave her here," Doctor (XI) said, "A time lord is most vulnerable when they are regenerating," The Doctor (XI) was worried, whatever attacked Jenny would surely come back to finish the job. However, the Doctor (XI) was being torn between staying with his daughter and investigating the tower, which was their only hope of escaping.

"I will stay with Jenny," Doctor (IX) said unexpectedly. Jenny was the Doctor (IX)'s chance at redemption for sentencing his entire race to extinction and he would not let anything happen to her. "I will no longer be the last time lord," he said to himself. Doctors (X) and (XI) would investigate the spire with Martha and Rose while Doctor (IX), Rory, and Amy would stay and protect Jenny. Rory believed that it was his duty as the only other man to stay behind with Doctor (IX) to protect Jenny. Amy believed that as his wife, it was her job to protect him.

"Be careful, Rose," Doctor (IX) said as Rose prepared to leave with the others. His heart was torn between Rose and Jenny. He had tried desperately to convince Rose to stay but Rose had already made up her mind. She was slightly jealous of the attention, Jenny was getting from the Doctor (IX) and felt it was better to explore on her own for a little while. The Doctor (IX) would have gone after her but Jenny was still unconscious and slowly regenerating. He had to grudgingly trust his other selves to protect Rose in his stead. However what worried him most was…

"So Doctor(IX), don't worry if any monsters show up, I got your," Rory said showing his muscle. The Doctor( IX) wondered if he could keep himself from killing Rory before the others got back.

The Spire had a strong musty smell and Martha hear the faint echo of water dripping through the empty halls. The hallway was dimly lit by some unknown source but Martha could barely see her hand in front of her face. She was slightly comforted by the fact that they would not die of thirst in a city which she had assumed was in the middle of a desert. Martha ran her fingers along the walls, and surprised to find that they were warm to the touch and free of dust. It was as if someone was actively cleaning this spire. She and Rose stood in the middle of the group while Doctor (XI) led and Doctor (X) followed behind. Every so often Martha would look over her shoulder to make sure the Doctor was still there.

"Martha?" Rose whispered to in her ear. Everyone had been quiet since they first entered the spire even the Doctor(X), who normally would not shut up, was unusually silent. Something was wrong and everyone knew it.

"Yes, Rose?" Martha stated quietly.

"You and this Doctor(X) are from the future, right?" Rose said cautiously. At first, Martha thought it was a stupid question but then she realized what Rose was most likely going to ask. Martha nodded to confirm this. "Since your Doctor(X) is from the future, that means we have to get out this, right or he would not be here," Martha did not have the heart to ask. She believed that as the Doctors had stated, this was a pocket dimension so all the normal rules of space time were off. In this pocket dimension, the temporal link between these Doctors has been severed. Still Martha held faith that since the Doctor (XI) in front of her was from her future that meant there was still hope that they would all make it out of this hell alive. Doctor (XI) suddenly stopped only to have Martha walk into his back. The Doctor (XI) and Martha apologized to each other. Doctor (XI) pointed to a bright light that seeped in from underneath a stretch of wall.

"What do you think, Doctor?" Doctor (XI) asked Doctor(X), "It could be a trap,"

"Well, anything is better than staying in this hallway any longer," Doctor (X) smiled, "It smells like a drowned rat out here," Doctor (X) struggled to relieve the obvious tension. Everyone then lined up against the wall, where the light was leaking through, and pushed against it. The wall cave in and they were flooded by light which stung their eyes which were use to the dimly lit hallway. When their eyes finally adjusted, they found a terrify sight. Craved into the walls were thousands messages that stated "I am so sorry,", "My fault", "No escape", "No hope", and many other messages that covered every inch of the walls in this huge room. It is not the walls that made Martha's blood run cold; it was the horrible statues that filled the room. Some were clawing at the walls while other had their arms raised above their heads as if they were pleading with a higher power. The worst statues were those in the center of the room, they all seemed to changing as Martha walked closer to the center of the room. It was as if the room was a real life animation. As she walked, she could the statues were transitioning toward covering their faces and wings were sprouting from their backs.

"Martha, Stop!" Doctor (X)'s voice seemed boom like a shotgun blast, "Do not move and try not to even blink," Martha's heart started to beat pound faster and faster in her chest. She looked back toward the Doctors who were frozen against the wall and Rose was nowhere in sight. Martha looked everywhere but she could not see Rose only those horrible statues. She then overheard the Doctor (XI) say they "wandered into a weeping angel nest"

Meanwhile, Doctor (IX) was at wits end and was about to beat Rory over the head with a stone. "Rory, what are you doing?" He said relatively politely as he cradled Jenny's head in his arms. Rory had spent the last hour and a half skipping stones across the tattered roads. The noise was irritating the Doctor's ears.

"Skipping…" Rory started but Amy prevented him from continuing.

"This Doctor is not the same as the one, we know," Amy whispered to him, "Both love your little quirks but this Doctor may… kill you if you annoy him too much so please try to stay on his good side," Rory had tried his best since the others left to be on the Doctor (IX)'s good side and even tried to befriend him but nothing he tried worked. Rory sighed then skipped another stone unconsciously. The stone hit side of building then ricocheted backwards but then it hit so invisible force that was near the building. Both the Doctor(IX) and Rory suddenly shoot up then looked at each other.

"Did you see that?" Rory asked the Doctor. Both the Doctor(IX) and Rory suddenly shoot up then looked at each other. Rory's head started to pound violently, he felt like he had done this before.

"What the hell?" Doctor (IX) rubbed his temples. He could not believe what just happen. They had just experienced a temporal shift in what is suppose to be a pocket dimension without time. Both the Doctor(IX) and Rory suddenly shoot up then looked at each other. There was a throbbing pain in the Doctor(IX)'s head. He struggled to open his eyes and he could see Rory and Amy rubbing their temples as well. Something then caught his eye, there seemed to be a shimmer of light approaching them. When his headache wore off, the shimmer disappeared. Rory and Amy then screamed in agony even Jenny, whose head and hands were now covered by regeneration energy, twitched from pain. Doctor (IX) had bitten his lip from the pain and had to spit out blood. After each time shift, he looked up to find that the shimmer closer and closer. The closer the shimmer got, the more intense the migraines. His eyes widened and he felt a pit at the bottomed of his stomach. He struggled to pick up Jenny and put her over his shoulder. He knew it was incredible dangerous to hold a timelord while they were regenerating but he had no choice. He hoped that her regeneration would not suddenly speed up. "We have to go now, something is coming this way!" He then ran with Jenny over his shoulder and, Rory and Amy following closely behind. Whatever had been chasing them, he could no longer see it any more but he knew better than to stop. His head was still pounding and his intuition was telling him whatever it was, it was still nearby. He then realized he had abandoned the others, he abandoned Rose. He did not know why he chose to run instead of warning the others, about what he had just seen, but he could not stay anywhere near that thing. It brought up too many bad memories of the Last Great Time War and he did not know why.


	4. Bow before your King

**I am sorry to those people who actually like my story for the major delay. This chapter will introduce my villain. I had been hinting at who it was for a long time so i wonder who figured it out. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy. No spoilers**

Several beads of sweat welled up on Martha's as she slowly crept toward the Doctor (X). She could feel them travel down the side of her face and collect before dropping gently to the floor. Although both Doctors were shouting at the top of their lungs for Rose, the room still seemed quiet enough for her to hear these droplets of sweat hitting the floor. Her eyes were fixated on the Weeping Angels especially "Shifting" Angels as the Doctors called them. These "shifting" Angels gave off emotion through their faces which ranged from uncontrollable rage to unbelievable sorrow and agony. Martha could feel these emotions touch the deepest portions of her soul but she could not look away out of fear of the Weeping Angels' power. Her eyelids felt heavy as she struggled to prevent herself from blinking which was getting tougher and tougher by the second. They remained frozen in place but Martha would not let them fool her. The Doctor (X) explained to her that the Weeping Angels could only attack when you were not looking at them directly. Martha was trying her best to make sure they did not have a chance to get to her before she reached the Doctors. As the Doctors called out to Rose, they also kept a sharp eye for movement from the Weeping Angels.

"Rose!" Both Doctors shouted with urgency in their voice. However the only reply was an echo which seemed to go on forever in the almost empty room. It seemed as if Rose had utterly vanished without a trace.

"Did the Weeping Angels get to her?" The Doctor (X) wondered. From what he could see, none of the Weeping Angels had moved since they first arrived. The Doctor(X) knew he was possibly missing something but he could not put his finger on it. As usual, the Angels were weeping with their hands covering their faces and the "shifting" Angels appeared to still be frozen in speechless agony. "How long have these Angels been here?" The Doctor(X)knew that Weeping Angels could only be born in two ways and each was made impossible due to the Last Great Time War. A hand grabbed the Doctor (X)'s shoulder and both of his hearts skipped a beat.

"Where have you all been?" Rose said while still holding onto the Doctor(X)'s shoulder. "I have been calling you for over an hour,"

"An hour?" The Doctor (XI) asked, "We have only been here for ten minutes,"

"I know that I have been here longer than ten minutes," Rose protested, "Did you all not here me calling you?" This statement intrigued the Doctor (X).

"Time fluctuations must be more volatile in this pocket dimension than I previously imagined," The Doctor(X) thought.

"I am glad that Rose was found but we still have a big problem," Martha stated with her eyes still focused on the Angels.

"The statues?" Rose asked as she walked toward Martha as the Doctors tried to stop her. "I know they are creepy but they are just statues," Rose waved her hand in front of one of the Angels. "See nothing,"

"Weeping Angels only move when you are not looking at them," The Doctor (X) explained but Rose shook her head.

"I have been wandering around this room for a long time and I am pretty sure I was not watching all of them at once,"

"That is not possible," The Doctor (X) said as he pulled out his sonic screw driver and examined a nearby Angel. He looked at the results and shook his head. "This can't be," He then walked over to the next one. "It is impossible; these Angels are inactive or sleeping," The Doctor (X) could not believe it; he never knew Angels could sleep.

"Well, we have never actually seen an Angel nest," Doctor (XI) interjected. "This could be part of their development," The Doctor (XI) breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God," Martha sighed as she rubbed her dry eyes. "I do not know how long I could have went without blinking,"

"So even Angels sleep," Rose smiled at the Doctor(X). The Doctor (X) had a nearly expressionless grimace on his face. When he looked like this, Rose could actually imagine seeing the ninth Doctor in his face.

"It must be due to the lack of coherent time in this pocket dimension," Doctor (X) said, "This dimension is replicating the environment in which Angels are born so it seems we have entered an artificial Angel's nest,"

"What is an artificial Angels' nest?" Martha asked. She had never seen the Doctor (X) like this.

"When a human or any other creature is separated from the time stream, they no longer exist and they become an afterimage similar to a statue," Doctor (XI) explained, "However, when a Time Lord is removed from the time stream, they become… a Weeping Angel," he pointed to a nearby Angel.

"However, the Weeping Angels are ancient species whose history dates back to before the Time Lords even existed so this was one of the great historical paradoxes that stumped scientists for centuries," The Doctor (X) continued, " That was until one curious but foolish Time Lord broke an important taboo of our society,"

"He went back in time to before the Universe began in order to witness the Beginning but he never returned or at least not in the form at which he left," The Doctor (XI) spoke solemnly. He did not like where this conversation was going and was wary of the kinds of emotions it would bring up in the Doctor (X). "Enough of his features survived in the Angel that he would become for him to be identified as that Time Lord and it was later postulated that the other Weeping Angels were those who attempted the same foolish quest to witness the Beginning.

"However this did not become important again until the Last Great Time War, when Rassilon needed an army," The Doctor (X) spat those words out with disgust. "Rassilon wanted weapons to bring the Dalek Empire to its knees and combat the emerging threats that this war had created such as the Horde of Travesties and the Nightmare Child,"

"Rassilon experimented on his own people, mostly his political enemies," The Doctor (XI)'s memories of the War were fading in their intensity but he knew these memories were still fresh in the minds of Doctor (IX) and (X). "As you can see, he was successful in some respects but the most disturbing result of these experiments was … his failures," The room then became eerily silent. Martha could see that the Doctors were going through those memories in their heads. The looks on the Doctor (X)'s face reminded her of war veteran whom she worked with as a doctor. However it was the Doctor (X) who eventually broke the silence.

"Enough about the past and Angels, I am interested in taking a look at these carvings are interesting," The Doctor (X) said in his usual chirper voice as he ran his fingers along the smooth groves of the "I am sorry". He also silently read the words to himself, wondering if there was some sort of secret message beyond the words. As soon as the word "sorry" crossed his lips, the room seemed to explode with sound.

"Help Me!", "I am sorry", "Forgive me," and all of the other messages carved into walls were suddenly given voice and spoken aloud using the Doctor(X)'s voice. While the others were focused on the voices, the Doctor (XI) never left the confines his own head

"Rassilon…The Last Great Time War… Weeping Angels… Failures" The Doctor (XI) thought. His eyes widen as the Doctor (XI) came to a sudden realization, "No," The Doctor (XI) said under his breath. "We have to…" The Doctor (XI) looked around and saw that he was no longer in the Angels' nest. He, Martha, and Rose were now outside the Spire in another unfamiliar area of the ruined city.

"Where are we?" Rose asked stunned by the sudden change in environment. Martha was wondering the same thing but remembered having a similar feeling before losing consciousness and waking up in the center of the ruined city. Without warning, the Doctor (XI) grabbed both their hands and squeezed them tight. This caused both Martha and Rose to blush with embarrassment at this unexpected display of affection from a man who was essential a stranger.

"You must never let go of my hand no matter what," The Doctor (XI) warned with urgency in his voice. "Understood," Both Rose and Martha was shocked by this sudden change in the Doctor (XI).

"First The Doctor (X) and now this Doctor (XI)," Martha thought, "Something must be seriously wrong," She then looked around and saw that the Doctor(X) had disappeared. "Where's the Doctor?"

When the Doctor (X) finally awoke, he found himself half buried in what he believed was grey sand. The wind howled as it threatened bury the Doctor (X) with more sand if he did not stand up. The Doctor (X) jumped up and dusted himself off before trying to take a look at his surroundings. However, there was not that much to look at. In every direction, there were only sand and sand dunes on a featureless landscape. He could not even see the ruined city in any direction. He followed the direction of the wind which was pushing in some unknown direction. The Doctor (X) pulled his jacket over his face to prevent the sand from getting into his eyes. However, the sand, kicked up by the wind, was so intense that he had to close his eyes. When he opened them, he found that he was not alone. He found a solitary statue in a massive desert. The statue's features were worn away by the fierce wind which buffeted the statue with sand. The faceless statue was frozen standing upright with their head looking upward as if they were resigning themselves to fate. The Doctor (X) took out his sonic screwdriver to examine the statue. The results confirmed that it was not a Weeping Angel but a regular afterimage. The Doctor (X) felt sorry for the unfortunate soul but there was nothing; he could do for this person or the Weeping Angels in the nest. It was a little while later that the Doctor (X) found that was not the only statue in the desert. He wandered into a virtual forest of statues. Each statue had varying degrees of erosion but they appear to have been here a long time. The statues were in various positions with most seemed to be running. One statue seemed to be helping a fallen statue off the ground. Another statue was on the ground with their arm upward as if to block something. The Doctor (X) believed that he had found the original inhabitants of the ruined city. As he wandered through the forest of statues, the Doctor (X) could not help but feel the pain and suffering these people. The wind continued to guide him though the forest of statues until he reached a ledge. The Doctor (X) looked over the ledge to see a dark endless abyss. One of the statues was reaching over the ledge toward this abyss. The Doctor (X) knew that anything that fell into the abyss would be lost forever.

"Hello Doctor, I trust you have been enjoying your stay in my kingdom," A voice hissed from behind the Doctor (X). The air suddenly became electrified by this presence. The Doctor (X) turned to see a figure wrapped dark blue Time Lord robes embroidered with gold. The figure wore a hood, with intricate gold patterns, that hid its face which seemed as empty as the abyss. The Doctor (X) had seen this figure before during the Last Great Time War. It should have been impossible for it to be here.

"The Could've Been King,"


	5. Welcome to Paradox

**This chapter is very dialogue heavy** **so** **there is a warning in advance. I would also like to explain hat this story takes place at different points of time for each doctor: the near the end for the ninth Doctor, the middle for the tenth Doctor and the beginning for the eleventh Doctor. I hope you all enjoy.**

"Welcome to my kingdom, Doctor" The cold voice seemed to echo from beneath the hood. "Please take a seat," The Could've been King outstretched his hand and the sand receded away from the Doctor(X) revealing a statue on its hands and knees. The statue appeared to be a person coughing or maybe a person's last minutes before being swallowed by the sands.

"You know what, I think I will stand," The Doctor (X) did not reveal a hint of emotion because he knew that is what the Could've been King wanted from him.

"Very Well," The statue was then engulfed by the sand and returned to its resting place. The wasteland was silent as the two enemies sized each other up like combatants in an arena. Only the fierce howling of the wind could be heard until the Doctor (X) broke the silence.

"Tell me, what should I call you, Could have been King, Could've been King, or May have been King but never made the cut?" The Doctor (X) asked sarcastically which seemed to amuse the Could've Been King.

"If you like, you could call me, Your Highness, Your Majesty or simply Master but I hear that has already been taken," He responded

"How about I simply call you, CBK?" The Doctor (X) stated sternly. Before CBK could respond, the Doctor asked, "So CBK, How did you escape from the Time Lock?"

"Your wit is legendary, Doctor," CBK said, "How do you think I escaped?"

"You are the only one that I feared had the kind of power to escape so I am surprised, it took you so long,"

"You underestimate the power of the Time Lock, Doctor," The Doctor (X) felt a cold presence behind him. "It was very difficult," A voice whispered in his ear. The Doctor (X) turned to find there was no one there.

"That was a nice trick, have you taken up ventriloquism while you were away?" CBK gave no response to this question so the Doctor(X) asked another one, "I hope you locked the door behind you when you left," Everything sealed by the Time Lock held the power to destroy the very fabric of space-time and there were much worse things to fear than the Could've Been King.

"Do not worry, Doctor, you can take solace in the fact that the Time Lock was sealed after I escaped," CBK hissed, "Not for lack of trying on my part to hold it open, I only managed to release two of my soldiers," The Doctor (X) could not help but grin. It was true that two Neverweres or Meanwhiles was bad but it was better than an entire army. "Smile all you want Doctor but I plan to open the Time Lock and you are going to help," That comment turned the Doctor's smile into a scowl. He ran up and CBK by the cloak.

"If you open the Time Lock, you let everything out including the things that you fear," He shouted at the top of his lungs. The cloak wilted in his hands as CBK disappeared from within it.

"What gave you the right to lock us away in the first place?" A voice echoed in the wind. "You the most feared being in all the universe, the man who committed genocide against his own race," The voice seemed to be omnipresent and came from all directions. "The scourge of a thousand worlds whose name brings fear to the hearts of billions lectures me about ethics," The wind turned into a sandstorm as the Could've Been King became angrier and angrier. "You truly deserve your fate of eternal loneliness but I will release my army and I will use the power of your own Tardis to do it," The Doctor (X) knew it would take the power of more than just one Tardis to break the Time Lock and he realized CBK had three. "I am going to hunt down every last one of your companions including the new one and kill them in front of you," The sand swirled around the Doctor(X) and constricted around his feet. He struggled to keep himself from being swallowed by the rising sand with limited success. "In the end, when you are weak, defeated, and begging for death, you will…" The hooded figure of the Could've Been King appeared in front of him, "Bow before your King," The Doctor (X)'s head was barely above the sand. "I have gotten good at killing Time Lords since the War and nothing can change the game of fate, even not the Doctor," The Doctor closed his eyes and struggled to hold his breath as he was sucked beneath the surface of the sand. When he opened them, he found that he was back in the ruins and he was not alone.

"Doctor… or Doctors, What is going on?" Rose asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"I would like to know as well," The Doctor (IX) glared at both his compatriots. His rage was growing into an inferno "How did you let a Neverwere escape from the Time lock?"

"I am afraid that it is worse than that," Doctor (X) feel the weight of the words that he was about say on the tip of his tongue but not wanting to leave his lips. "The Could've Been King escaped from the Time Lock and brought us here," The Doctor (IX) grabbed the Doctor (X) by the shirt and lifted him off his feet.

"How could this have happened …How could I be so irresponsible to let this happen?" The Doctor (IX) exploded but the Doctor (X) remained calm. He was asking himself the same question and it did not make any sense.

"It is all my fault," The Doctor (XI) sighed. The Doctor (IX) dropped the Doctor (X) and turned towards him.

"Your fault, I should have…" The Doctor (IX) shouted but he was interrupted by the Doctor (XI).

"I cannot tell you everything but the Time Lock was opened before I could stop it and the Time War was released along with the Horrors that came with it." The Doctor (XI) began, "The Time Lock was resealed before anything could escape or so I thought, I'm sorry,"

"You are sorry?" The explanation did not alleviate the Doctor (IX)'s fury, "Do you know what you've done?"

"Leave him alone," Rory stated while stepping between the two Doctors. This show of courage surprised everyone including Rory but it did not stop him from defending his friend. "You heard him, it was out of his control and he could not stop it," The Doctor (IX) glared at Rory but he stood his ground.

"He is right besides we have bigger problems," The Doctor (X) intervened thus allowing Rory to breathe a sigh of relief after a very tense moment. He returned to Amy's side who approved of him being brave. "The Could've Been King plans to use the power of the Tardis's to open the Time Lock and release his army," This revelation caused the Doctor (IX) to finally back down. He turned away in disgust by the situation and with himself, he let his emotions cause him to be blind to the bigger picture.

"Isn't there any way we can stop him?" Martha asked

"That is the reason, I sealed him and the rest of the Horrors with the Time Lock," The Doctor (IX) interjected.

"But there has to be another way, you can stop him,"

"There is," The Doctor (X) explained, "Even in a weaken state, the Time Lock would require a lot of energy to escape from as well as maintaining this dimensional paradox," The Doctor (X) had a moment of pure brilliance as he spoke. "CBK would require time to rest in order to recover completely," This was the reason why CBK's voice sounded like an echo and why he could not see his face. "We need to find the real CBK and prevent him from recovering as well as absorbing the energy from the Tardis,"

"CBK?" Rory asked,

"Could've Been King, stay on the ball," The Doctor(IX) snapped.

"This is all fine and good but where do we find the Could've…I mean CBK?" Amy asked

"He already showed us where to find?" Martha stated as she thought over everything the Doctor (X) had said, "He's at the Spire,"

"That a girl, Martha," The Doctor (X) approved,

"Then we better get going," Everyone turned to face the newcomer to the group. She had light brown hair that went past her shoulders. Her yellow dress appeared to be too big to fit her and only the belt around her waist was holding everything together. Despite the atmosphere, she wore a smile that seemed to naturally fit her face even in this disturbing circumstance. "Hello everyone, I am Jenny, it is a pleasure to meet you all," She said with a sickeningly sweet voice.

"That is impossible, how did you regenerate in…this place?" The Doctor (IX) looked up to see the sun moving almost naturally across the sky albeit it was moving quite rapidly. Although everyone was watching the sun, Jenny found it rude that they had ignored her until she saw something rather alarming.

"Uh… Doctor," Jenny tugged on the Doctor (XI)'s coat and pointed to the statues that suddenly appeared around them. However these statues were not Time Lords or even Weeping Angels, they were Daleks and there were thousands of them.

"Where the hell did these things come from?" Rose shouted.

"They were always here, CBK just wants us to see them now," Doctor (XI) explained "During the Time War, CBK claimed an abandoned Time Lord city that had been occupied by the Daleks as his kingdom, Paradox," The Doctor (XI) analyzed the statues with his sonic screwdriver. " I guess, this is what happened to the Daleks who were in the city when he claimed it,"

"They are just statues, right?"

"They are until CBK has use for them, then they are Daleks like any other. In Paradox, Life and Death have no meaning outside of what Could've Been King wills of it," Although no one liked being surrounded by the Dalek statues, it had a worse effect on The Doctor (IX). It brought back memories of the Time War, memories which were better left forgotten.


	6. Don't Cry for Me, Gallifrey

**After a long hiatus, I have finally updated this story. It is a short update because that is all that I could fit in this chapter so sorry. For now, I will probably make minor edits because the last few chapters were unedited when I submitted them. Thank you for reading and anyone who continues to follow this story. **

The Time War was hell like any other War except this one was fought by demons and fools who believed that they could control them. By the time, I was imprisoned the War had been turning against the Time Lords. The first demons to fight in this War, fought along aside the Daleks. The Skaro Degradations and the Horde of Travesties swept through Time Lord Colonies like a plague and left very few survivors even those survivors wished they hadn't. Imprisoned, I could only listen to rumors spread by my captors as each world fell. I could only feel sorrow and pain as billions cried and died. My one month of imprisonment felt like an eternity as I was unable to alleviate their suffering and they were being led further into the abyss by a madman. It was during this period that Rassilon decided to conduct his experiments on his own people in an effort to create Weeping Angels in an effort to turn the tide of War. He, in his twisted mind, believed that the lives of a few million worth sacrificing if it could save an entire race from extinction especially if they were undesirables. Prisoners would disappear daily and never return, leaving only empty cells as reminders of their existence until they were replaced by a fresh crop of "traitors". Despite all his efforts, he failed and instead of making Angels, he created the ruthless insane monsters known as the Meanwhiles and Neverweres. Although they proved effective in battle, they were uncontrollable and inflicted horrific numbers of causalities on both sides. So the disappearances continued and seemed to increase as desperation mounted until one day, they suddenly stopped.

Rumor spread that a Time Lord had been exposed to massive amounts of temporal radiation after Tardis was destroyed. He miraculously had survived this and falling to Gallifrey from a great height. Despite maintaining a sliver of his former sanity, he was forever warped by this experience which caused him to exist between Space-time and the Void. His very existence seemed to bend the fabric of spacetime to the brink and was occasionally forced to leave spacetime to remain in the endless void. This event was seen as yet another tragedy by many but Rassilon saw an opportunity. The ability to exist between spacetime and the Void was theoretically similar to existing at the moment of the Big Bang. The Time Lord was essentially a conscious Weeping Angel with the ability to move even while seen. Even more valuable to Rassilon was not only his ability create Weeping Angels from Time Lords but to also command the Neverweres and the Meanwhiles. The Meanwhiles were able to mold space, appearing anywhere at will and able to turn a simple room into a maze, the hands of Meanwhile. The Neverweres were more dangerous, they could remove anything or anyone from existence leaving behind only the footprints of Neverwere. With this new army, Rassilon was able shift the war from a near crushing defeat to a deadly stalemate. However, this would not last as both sides would find out with the advent of the Nightmare Child. Even before the Nightmare Child appeared, cracks had been forming in both armies as the demons began to loath their masters. The Nightmare Child only served as a catalyst for what was bound to happen, open rebellion. The Degradations of Skaro were the first to rebell against their Dalek masters and were soon followed by the Horde of Travesties. Rassilon took the opportunity to push the Daleks back to Skaro and at the same time, he kept the linchpin of his new offensive on a very short leash. He however made the master of every slave driver throughout history, he shown his distorted prisoner that he feared him. The distorted prisoner broke fear of his chains and turned on Rassilon and all Time Lords. Once freed and without restraints, the demons ran amok and tore their pound of flesh from both armies, in the form of lives and planets. The demons added new fronts to the war as each one fighting for themselves and against both sides in an effort to prove their superiority and dominance. The distorted man, whose tragic fate was used by Rassilon became known as the Could've been King due to his ability to distort spacetime by will and his many efforts to overthrow Rassilon. When I finally made my escape, the Could've been King and his army committed almost as many atrocities against the Time Lords as the Daleks and their former allies. One of the few eternal truths of the universe is that War is Hell and I have seen both firsthand.

"Doctor!" Rose shouted in Doctor(IX)'s ear. The Doctor(IX) shook his head this was the wrong time to dwell on the past. The statues began to shift as time was being restored to the barren land. The dalek statues began to move and adjust themselves after what could have felt like eons of slumber.

"They are moving, Doctor," Amy shouted, "Maybe we should not be around when they are actually ready to hunt us,"

"Agreed," The others shouted in unison. Stone Daleks or not, they were still daleks and there were a lot of them. The group ran through the cluttered streets as fast as they could. However, they soon found themselves face to face with Daleks, who after along slumber were anxious to continue the war, they started long ago.

"Exterminate!" The Warcry echo through the streets and began to grow louder as more Daleks began to regain consciousness.

"Into the buildings, now!" The Doctor (X) shouted in desperation. Nobody took the time to those who went where and by the time, they realized it the group was split again.


End file.
